Photo/Illutration Japan’s Hinata Miyazawa, left, and Yui Hasegawa look dejected after the quarterfinal match against Sweden as they are knocked out of the World Cup at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, on Aug. 11. (Reuters)

As a little girl, there was no hint that Hinata Miyazawa would grow up to make Japan proud.

Miyazawa, 23, is now being feted as the leading scorer at the Women’s World Cup, even though Japan was eliminated in the quarterfinals after losing 2-1 to Sweden on Aug. 11.

With five goals under her belt, she was the leading scorer and ties the record held by Homare Sawa, who led the team to its only championship in 2011.

The foreign media had focused on Miyazawa as the reason for the surprising run through this tournament by Nadeshiko Japan.

“She was extremely shy as a young child and would cry loudly every morning when she went to the day care center,” her mother, Takayo, 50, recalled.

Soccer would change Miyazawa and she has her older brother, Keita, 27, to thank for that.

But in elementary school, as she watched the boys kick a soccer ball around during recess, Miyazawa could not bring herself to ask to be included.

She joined a boys’ team at first and whenever she came home after a bad practice or game, she would always cry when she got home.

Concerned about the toll this was taking on her daughter, Takayo devised a chit-chat routine for whenever she left the house to play soccer.

Takayo would ask, “And what about the boys?”

To which Miyazawa responded, “I will not lose!”

She said her mother provided emotional support for a life that soon revolved around soccer.

“She always kept telling me ‘Continue with what you love until the very end,’” Miyazawa said.

When Miyazawa joined a club team after entering junior high school and practice would extend until late at night, her mother would wait up for her at home so they could eat dinner together.

Miyazawa still looks up to her brother, who plays for an amateur company league in Kanagawa Prefecture.

They still have the traditional first kick of the soccer ball on New Year’s Day.

They also talk about her games, and Keita advises his sister on what she might have done better.

Until this Women’s World Cup, Miyazawa was never able to show her gratitude to her mother and brother on a soccer stage of global standing.

While she debuted on the Japanese national team in November 2018 at the age of 18, she was not chosen for the teams that went to the 2019 Women’s World Cup or the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Things changed in October 2021 when Futoshi Ikeda became head coach of Nadeshiko Japan.

He took advantage of Miyazawa’s speed. As she developed greater confidence, she became a key part of the team.

When the team for this Women’s World Cup was announced and her name was on the roster, Miyazawa phoned her mother and they both cried over the good news.

Miyazawa hopes to use the disappointment of losing to Sweden as a catalyst to strive for even greater achievements in the future.

(This article was written by Takeshi Teruya and Takaaki Fujino.)

Related News